PR 1039433 nf tjrr Eirk call Cnnraatit. LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. MRS A. STUART MENTEATH. "THERE IS ANOTHER KING, ONE JESUS."— ACTS XVII. 7. EDINBURGH : JOHNSTONE AND HUNTER. M.DCCC.LII. EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY JOHN8TONE AND HUNTER, 104 HIGH STREET. 44 $nfr jiatjr laifr jngagjrarnts npn $rntlanfo ;—m an hjjft by toraania IE nligmn ann nfnrraatinn. W$m ijiat mm Wan unlmni arp ijrt jngagrtr ; anil it ^assrljj lljc ^nrarr nf all f jre raagistratBS unJrer juamit, in alisnlra frnra DYING TESTIMONY OF THE MARQUIS OF AKGYLE. " %i is nnr 'jTitrir^ miricam, tjrat jjis 1£irk sjmitltr war jirag hij a tljrratr, an!r ijjt tlr? iljrratf takrtli rartt hring jjanpti HpDtt lira mjjnis IJIB sure nail in Danftfs ljmisBt* nnnn mjfnra all tjiB ire55Fl5t gnat anfc small, iia Jiang, ani tjjr nail (te to tjianM) njitjor rrmihtl; imr ran to Irate." RUTHERFORD'S LETTERS. Isaiah xxii. 23. Cntttaite. PAGE 1. INTRODUCTION, ....... 9 2. PATRICK HAMILTON— THE PROTOMARTYR OF SCOTLAND, . 31 3. THE MERRIE TRAGEDIE OF THE YONGE SANCT GEIL, . . 47 4. THE CHILD OF JAMES MELVILLE, ..... 71 5. THE WITNESS STONES OF RUTHERFORD, . . . .79 6. THE SIGNING OF THE COVENANT, . . . . .95 7. THE DEATHBED OF RUTHERFORD, . . . . .111 8. THE MARTYR'S CHILD, . . . . . .119 9. PEDEN AT THE GRAVE OF CAMERON, .... 135 10. THE MARTYRDOM OF JOHN BROWN, .... 145 11. THE MARTYRS OF WIGTON, . . . . .161 12. THE LAST WORDS OF HUGH MACKAIL, . . . .201 INTBODUCTION. Mrnhrtinti " Till doomsday shall come, they shall never see the Kirk of Scotland and our Covenant burnt to ashes; or, if it should be thrown in the fire, yet it cannot be so burnt or buried as not to have a resurrection." — SAMUEL RUTHERFORD. SCOTLAND ! hallowed in thy story, Who would trace thine annals right, One peculiar page of glory Ever brightens on his sight ! Not the honours, far descended, Of thine ancient hero kings ; Not thy bulwarks, blood defended, — Thesis are but thy meaner things ! 12 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. True, the pulse exulting flutters, True, our souls within us burn, Trumpet names as Freedom utters, Wallace — Bruce — and Bannockburn ! But a holier joy subdues us, Tracing, while our heartstrings thrill, How the Saviour deigned to choose us, In His cause to suffer still ! Honoured be the patriot story ! Well may Scottish hearts beat high, Yet a far-excelling glory, Glads the heaven-anointed eye — Heritage, unbought — unpriced — Rich in the reproach of Christ ! Early — early, on our mountains, Presage of a glorious day, LAYS OF THE KIKK AND COVENANT. 13 Pure, as from its native fountains, Faintly broke the Gospel ray. Storm and cloud the pathway covers, By our rude forefathers trod ; Yet that dawning brightness hovers, Where St Columb walked with God ! x Ever broadening — ever welling — From lona's holy home Poured the radiance, sin-dispelling — Till it met the fogs of Rome ! Dark eclipse the earth then shrouded, Lurid phantasms filled the air ; But the glorious sun, though clouded,2 Shorn, and beamless, still was there ! Witness many a faint forewarning, Struggling through the night of crime, Prescient of a second dawning, Of the Gospel's noonday prime. 14 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. Streaks, that like the northern light, Shoot in promise up the night ! Lo ! it comes ! the mist hath risen, Martyr pyres the gloom dispel ; Scotland wakes, and bursts her prison, Lighted by the flames of hell ! Home hath wrought her own undoing — Rome infatuate ! Rome accurst ! All her fabric, one vast ruin, Crumbles 'neath the thunderburst ! Fierce the strife, and fierce the slaughter, Blood her rubbish moistens o'er, Even till Error's loveliest Daughter, Ealls upon a hostile shore ! Poor forfeit to the fatal band,8 Once lightly sealed with careless hand ; LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 15 Twice crowned Queen — thrice wedded wife- More regal in her death than life ! Now the infant Church hath quiet ; Surely now her toils may cease ! O'er the wild waves' rout and riot Broods the halcyon wing of peace ! Eome hath wrought her own undoing, Papal fires no longer blaze ! Ah ! but forth the mighty ruin, What new portents mar our gaze! Sin, the fiend, is hydra-headed, Far the Church's promised rest ; Avarice, with ambition wedded, Points new weapons at her breast ! Brief her Murray's true upholding ; * Nor tears nor prayers protract its span ; 16 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. And the helm falls from his holding, Who never feared the face of man ! * While myriad mischiefs swarming spring, From minions of a minion King ! Ah! the eye is sick with seeing; Ah ! the heart is faint with fear ; Clouds athwart the horizon fleeing, Harbingers of tempest near ! God hath laid to sleep his chosen : Who the mighty shall withstand ? And the tide of faith seems frozen In the winter of the land ! For a space it darkens — darkens — Hope and promise in the tomb : But the Lord looks down, and hearkens, Sobs of prayer amid the gloom ! * John Knox. LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 17 " Nay, my people — not forsaken, Though afflicted sore thou art, Of my strength thy hold is taken, Thy fresh springs are in my heart ! From the deep vault of the prison, From the lone isle of the sea, From thy banished ones hath risen, An accepted voice to me ! Chosen in affliction's waters — Chosen 'neath the oppressor's rod — I have sealed thy sons and daughters, In a covenant with God ! Pass thou on — a sign and wonder, As my nation was of yore ; In the secret place of thunder I have laid thy help in store ! Quit thy hold of earthly favour, Touch not the accursed thing ! 18 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. Monarchs must abhor thy savour, While they set at naught thy King ! Part not — halve not thine allegiance, Till I coine to claim mine own; In the woe of thine obedience, Bear my Cross, and guard my Crown : All its thorns in thy true sight, Transfigured into beams of light ! " Thus, a witness to the Churches, Scotland's Church hath ever been ! Carnal men, with vain researches, Musing what the sign may mean ! Like her Master, poor and lowly, Seeking naught of price below, All she claims, with freedom holy, Still about His work to go ; LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 19 Coveting nor wealth, nor station, Terrible to nought but sin, Mean in outward estimation, She is glorious within ! Trace her unmolested going : — Caesar finds observance meet ; Living waters round her flowing, Oh, how beautiful her feet ! Hope, o'er those broad waters gliding, Fast pursues the waning night ; And the home of her abiding, Gathers still, and radiates light ! Strange ! that in her pathway ever, Strifes and oppositions spring ; Nay ! she sows beside the river, And her shout is of a King ! 20 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. Since from Herod's couch the slumber Parted at the wise men's word, Kings and rulers without number, Band themselves against the Lord ! Tolls a death-knell through their riot, Shakes a terror 'neath their scorn ; And they seek, with vain disquiet, For the babe in Bethlehem born : Hating still, in deadliest measure, Who that rising sceptre own, Marring all their pomp and pleasure, With the shadow of a throne ! True, they kneel with feigned behaviour, Myrrh and frankincense will bring, Priest and Prophet own the Saviour, — But — they crucify the King ! Would'st thou hail an earthly Master, Then the world would love its own : LAYS OF THE KIEK AND COVENANT. 21 Grasp thy banner-truth the faster, See that no man take thy crown ! Hope thou not, then, earth's alliance ; Take thy stand beside the Cross ; Fear, lest by unblest compliance, Thou transmute thy gold to dross. Steadfast in thy meek endurance, Prophesy in sackcloth on ; Hast thou not the pledged assurance, Kings one day shall kiss the Son ? Oft thy foes may triumph o'er thee, Tread thy carcass in the street, Sing aloud the hate they bore thee, — Thou shalt stand upon thy feet ! Life, through all thy veins returning, In the sight of those who doomed ; 22 LAYS OF THE KIEK AND COVENANT. And the Bush, for ever burning, Never — never — be consumed ! Now unto the hill-tops get thee, Whence the sunrise we descry : Nightly on thy watchtower set thee, For His coming draweth nigh ! Tell the nations of the glory, Through the blackness we discern ; Sound a trumpet with the story, Of the King who shall return ! Call to Judah in her blindness, Bid benighted Israel hear, Drop the word of truth and kindness, On the heathen's palsied ear ! Trim thy lamp, the night-hours cheering, Wash thy robes from every stain ; LAYS OF THE KIEK AND COVENANT. 23 Watch, to hail the glad appearing, Of the Bridegroom and his train ! Haste ! thy coming Lord to greet, Cast thy crown before his feet ; Only, may his quest for thee, Find thee — what he made thee — Free ! 24 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. Jfnfea to tire Mrnhrtnm. NOTE 1. Yet that dawning brightness hovers, Where St Columb walked with God ! It is curious to observe, that more than one of the churches, lately erected by the extreme section of the Tractarian party, have been dedicated to the " Presbyter- Abbott " of lona. The reason of this it is not easy to discover ; for it is certain, that from first to last, nothing but an- tagonism subsisted between the Culdees, wherever located, and the " Mother Church of Rome," with which our Tractarians claim kindred so tenderly, and from which they deduce their orders and apostolical succession so exultingly. Both in doctrine and in discipline there was irreconcilable discrepancy. The Culdees rejected the Popish tenets of auricular confession, and authoritative absolution ; teaching the people to confess their sins to God only, and believing that He alone could forgive them. They opposed the belief of the real presence in the Sacrament of the Supper ; denounced as idolatrous the worship of saints, angels, and relics ; and were so sensitive, in particular, on the score of idolatry, that they would not permit the naming of their churches after any angel or saint ! They admitted neither prayers to, nor prayers for the dead, strenuously denied the Popish dogma concerning works of supereroga- LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 25 tion, administered the rite of baptism with any water that might be conveniently at hand, knowing nothing of the " consecrated chrism " of the Romanist ; and altogether, in their doctrines and form of church government, so nearly resembled the Presbyterians of later times, that their differences belong rather to the early age in which they flourished, than to any essential variation in either the substance or the jjpraa of their faith ; and we may recognise them affectionately as our ancestors, by their strong family likeness to ourselves, notwithstanding the quaint habits in which they are vested, and the gulf of ages that intervenes be- tween their day and our own ! NOTE 2. But the glorious sun, though clouded, Shorn, and beamless, still was there ! From the year 1297, when the Culdees of St Andrews made their last open attempt to resist the usurpations and oppressions of Rome, to the burning of Patrick Hamilton in 1528, may be considered as the darkest period of Scottish Church history. But even during this most dreary season, there were not wanting many indications, that the light of lona was unextinguished — hidden indeed for an appointed time under a bushel, but only while the candlestick was in preparation, on which it was again to shine forth with brighter effulgence than ever. It may be sufficient C LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. to recall the several martyrdoms of Resby the Englishman, and Craw the Bohemian, who, though foreigners themselves, had evidently received countenance and kindly entertainment from kindred spirits in Scotland, and to refer to the remarkable trial of the Lollards of Kyle, before James IV. in 1494, the very amusing details of which may be found in Knox's History. NOTE 3. Poor forfeit to the fatal band, &c. Alluding to the infamous League of Bayonne, the egg from which the Massacre of St Bartholomew was hatched, and to which Mary Queen of Scots was a consenting party ! Assuredly, if, as Lord Lindsay confidently informs us (in his Lives of the Lindsays), " her bosom was the fountain of all good impulses," — the miracle was in her accomplished, of a " foun- tain sending forth at the same place sweet water and bitter;" and we must be permitted, though with regret (for the spell of her beauty and misfortune is not lightly broken), rather to concur in the opinion of John Knox when he writes to Cecil, " I wold be glad to be deceaved ; but I fear I shall not. In communication with her, I espyed such craft as I have not found in such aige." It is painful to find a writer usually so candid, and always so kindly, as Lord Lindsay, denouncing even the "Good Regent" of Scotland's holiest memories, as "the cold and per- fidious Moray," in the eagerness of his onslaught upon all who arrested the " Rose of Scotland " in her career of folly, or strove to preserve their LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 27 country from the consequences of her crimes ; but " there is a talisman in that word Mary," and when we find sober historians, metamorphosed into sentimental apologists for sin, falling rabidly upon the great Refor- mer Knox, because he resisted the tears with which a passionate and self- willed woman would have forced the approval his conscience could not yield, to that very marriage she was herself to weary of, so fatally and so soon, we have the less cause to wonder at the chivalrous eagerness with which " the light Lindsay" buckles on his armour, to do his devoir as good knight and true in her defence ! Alas for him notwithstanding ! His adventure is not " light," for his contendings are against that stub- born man-at-arms whose name is Fact ; an enchanted foe, ever starting into vigorous new life beneath the blows that seemed to bear his death- warrant — and who, in those most recent days of ours, has set forth once more refreshed upon his mission, new-armed from head to heel in panoply of proof, out of the stores of that doughty armourer of France yclept Mignet ! It may be permitted, in conclusion, to quote a few lines from an ad- mirable article in the North British Review (November 1845), on " Mary Stuart and her Times," which we consider highly apposite to the subject : — " Had Mary perished at Langside, when her banner dragged the dust, never again to reappear, she would not perhaps have excited so lasting a sympathy for her misfortunes. But her nineteen years of imprison- ment, and her tragic death, met with the brave heroism of her race, have created for her defence a morality, that neither Plato nor the Bible owns ! " There can be no doubt, that the catastrophe of Mary's sad fate, was 28 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. mainly owing to her being the willing centre of Popish intrigue in Eng- land—the horrors that it had produced, having utterly failed to disgust her with the league, to which she had so long before affixed her name. And little as we can sympathize with, or excuse, the miserable feline trifling with which Elizabeth coquetted away, first the liberty, and then the life of her victim, we cannot but feel that it was the ability, and not the inclination of the rival Queens to destroy each other, that differed so widely. When Elizabeth signed the death-warrant of Fotheringay, the strong instinct of self-preservation, (in part at least), impelled her pen ! NOTE 4. Brief her Murray's true upholding ; Nor tears nor prayers protract its span. In January 1570, Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, as the emissary of his clan, accomplished the cold-blooded assassination of the good Regent Murray, before he had held the reins of government three years ; and thus the hopes of his reviving country were blasted by a wretch on whom he had just before bestowed his forfeit life. " The story so often re- tailed," says the younger Dr M'Crie, in a note to his most graphic Sketches, " of Regent Murray's cruelty to Hamilton's wife, has been found out to be a complete forgery, resting solely on the authority of Crawford's Memoirs, a book which has been proved to be a tissue of fabrications from beginning to end. Murray's assassination was the result of a plot, LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 29 in which the lairds of Ferniherst and Buccleuch had a chief share. One of their followers, on the day after the murder, and before it could be known on the Borders, said, in reply to another who threatened him with the Regent's displeasure, ' Tush, the Regent is cauld as the bit in my horse's mouth.' " John Knox did not long survive the death of his friend. Grief for his loss preyed upon his health and spirits. In the October following he was stricken with apoplexy —a solemn warning that the tabernacle was about to be taken down; and in November 1572 he was laid in his grave, the Regent Morton pronouncing over it these memorable words, " There lies he who never feared the face of man." PATEICK HAMILTON, Iftmiltntr, THE PROTOMARTYR OF SCOTLAND — (BORN 1504 — MARTYRED 1528.) THE story of Patrick Hamilton, the first who suffered death in Scotland for the cause of the Reformation, is, in all its circumstances, one of the most touching recorded in the blood-stained annals of persecution. The son of Sir Patrick Hamilton of Kincayil, he was doubly allied to royalty. En- dowed in childhood with the rich Abbacy of Feme, and tempted by the dominant superstition with the prospect of all her honours, life opened upon him clothed in manifold allurements. His bright talents, and pecu- liarly gentle and inoffensive disposition, strongly inclined him to a life of lettered ease and retirement, perfectly compatible with the highest ecclesiastical dignities ; but, like the young man in the Gospel, he came to Jesus ; not like him to go away again sorrowful, "because he had great possessions :" but to count all things as loss " for the excellency of the knowledge of that blessed name;" and to offer himself, a most willing sacrifice, on the altar of his country's regeneration. After three years spent on the Continent, (then the focus of light, as LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. now, alas ! the centre of darkness), in the enjoyment of the friendship and instructions of the leading Reformers, especially of Francis Lambert at his College of Marburg, his Scottish heart, yearning over his benighted countrymen, drew him home ; and he returned in spite of the dangers which inevitably threatened him, and of which his friends seem to have given him earnest and affectionate warning. With a single attendant, he landed in Scotland; for a brief period, enjoyed the privilege of giving his public testimony to the truth; and then, falling, as it appears, into a snare of the Beatons* (for whose craft his simple upright nature was no match), he suffered them to decoy him to their stronghold of St Andrews under pretext of a free conference, and there, seized by their treachery, after being subjected to a mock trial, he was burned to death in front of the College of St Salvador, on the last day of February 1528, when only in the twenty-fourth year of his age. Lest the King (James V.) should interfere to save the life of so near a relation, he had been artfully persuaded by the priests to undertake a pilgrimage to the shrine of StDothess,orDuthack,in Ross-shire, and having thus got him out of the way, the Beatons hastened the execution of their inhuman purpose ; being however, so anxious to secure an apparent sanc- tion to their proceedings, that they compelled amongst others, the young Earl of Cassilis, a child of thirteen years of age, to sign the warrant which sent the martyr to the stake! But "the flames in which he expired," says Pinkerton, " were, in the course of one generation, to enlighten all Scotland, and to consume with avenging fury the Catholic superstition, the Papal power, and the Prelacy itself! " * James, the celebrated Archbishop of St Andrews, and David, his nephew and successor, the yet more celebrated Cardinal. LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 35 THE King is away to St Dothess' shrine — On a pilgrimage he's gone ; He hath left the Beatons place and power, And they'll burn young Hamilton ! Oh ! young Hamilton from beyond the sea, He hath strange new doctrines brought ; And our Father the Pope says, such heretics Are easier burned than taught ! He hath preached once, he hath preached twice, And the people were fain to hear : For, as rain on the new-mown grass, his voice Conies down on the charmed ear ! And he tells us not as our begging friars, Of indulgence the price of gold ; But he speaks of a pardon, as sunlight free, That can neither be bought nor sold ! 36 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. And he tells us not of our Ladye's grace, By Aves and penance won ; But he points the way to the Father's heart, Through the shed blood of the Son ! No crucifix in his hand he waves, Nor relic nor chaplet wears ; And he spends no worship on dead men's bones, No faith upon dead men's prayers ! All intercessors 'twixt earth and heaven, Save Jesus, God's only One, He would scatter, as marsh-raised mists are driven From the path of the glorious sun ! And ever he reads in the Book of God, As his very breath it were, And, oh ! if his doctrine be heresie 'Tis strange he should find it there ! LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 37 And ever some burthened souls and poor, Avouch that his words are sooth, And, oh ! if his doctrine be heresie, Dear Lord ! that it were but truth ! — — They have lured him on to St Andrew's town, With their cunning words and fair ; In the dead of the night, when good men sleep, They have seized and bound him there ! — James Beaton he sits on his throne of state, And David he sits beside ; Was never a bloodier Prelate yet, Trained on by a bloodier guide ! And knights, and nobles, are all around, This world with its braverie ; It pranked not thus in the path of Him, Whose throne was the cursed tree ! 38 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. And young Hamilton stands in his light of youth, With his calm and holy brow ; And it seems as the Father's name of love Were beaming from it now ! But once he spake, as his doom they signed, When Cassilis' young Earl drew near ; " Grod charge not my blood on thy soul, poor child, And forgive who brought thee here ! " — They have hasted down by the College wall, With fagots they pile the sod ; But there are sore hearts for the blood of kings, Sore hearts for the truth of God ! And many are gazing in silent awe, With thoughts that they may not speak ; As men who awaken to feel a chain, Erewhile they must die or break ! LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 39 The friars are mustered — white, grey, and brown — A motley, exulting band ; But all eyes are turned on one Black Friar,1 Who strides at the Martyr's hand. " Convert ! " " Convert ! " cried the Black Friar, " And sue for our Ladye's grace ! " But ever the light of that holy brow, Chased the life-blood from his face ! Yet he set as a stone his cold grey eye, And he fixed his cold white face ; And louder he clamoured — " Convert ! " " Convert ! " And sue for our Ladye's grace ! " — One moment that death procession paused — For a cry rose hoarse and wild, As an old man burst through the serried crowd, And wept like an orphaned child ! 40 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. Full gently his hand did the Martyr lay, On that old man's hoary brow : — " Good friend, thou did'st never forsake me yet, And thou hast not failed me now ! " " These weeds in the fire will not profit me, But thee they may profit still ; And weep not so sore for thy master's doom — He but bears his Master's will ! " But remember thou, and remember all, Good countrymen standing near; Christ Jesus our Lord will deny in heaven, Who shall shrink to own Him here ! " And sorrow no more for the young life quenched, At a priestly tyrant's nod, No hurt is theirs in the sevenfold fire,- Who walk with the Son of God ! " LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 41 Still " Convert ! " « Convert! " roared the Black Friar, As they bound him to the stake ; But he met a glance from the Martyr's eye, And it made the Black Friar shake ! " Thou evil man ! in thy heart of hearts, Thou art witnessing a lie ; To me hast thou owned, that for God's good truth, I am called this day to die ! " To His judgment-seat I appeal thee now, Thy doom at His hand to take ! " There fell a mist on the Black Friar, And he staggered from the stake ! The dry wood crackled, the flame rose high, One groan from the breathless crowd ; But a voice came forth from the mantling fire,2 As a trumpet, clear and loud ! 42 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. " How long, 0 my God ! shall this darkness brood ? How long wilt Thou stay Thine hand ? Now gather my soul to its rest with Thee, And shine on my native land ! " As the flame rose higher, the daylight paled, With a wan and sickly light ; And an old man sat by the blackened sod, Alone — in the dews of night ! But a few brief vigils had barely flown, Since that Martyr passed to heaven ; When the Black Friar died a despairing man, His brain all frenzy-riven ! And even amid his dark-stoled feres, Did the whispered word pass on ; " He is gone to meet at the bar of God, With Patrick Hamilton ! " LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. And one who dared mutter a biting gibe In the Primate's ear, quoth he, " When ye next shall burn, my good lord, I pray, In a deep vault let it be ! " For it seemeth as if the clouds of heaven, Dropped heresie with their dew, And the smoke of young Patrick Hamilton Hath infected where'er it blew ! " 1847. 44 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. to f ntrirk iteita. NOTE 1. But all eyes are turned on one Black Friar. " But most of all he was greved by certane "wicked men, amongis whome Campbell the Blak Freir was principall, who contimiallie cryed, 'Convert, heretick : call upoun our Lady : say Salve Regina,' etc. : To whome he an- swered, ' Departe, and trouble me not, ye messingeris of Sathan.' Bott whill that the foiresaid Freir still roared one thing in great vehemency, he said unto him, 'Wicked man, thou knowis the contrair, and the contrair to me thou hast confessed : I appeall thee befoir the tribunall seatt of Jesus Christ!' -#- « » * *• The said Freir departed this lyif within few dayis after, in what estait we refer to the manifestation of the generall day. But it was plainlie knawin that he dyed in Grlaskow, in a phrenesye, and as one dispared." — JOHN KNOX'S Historic. LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 45 NOTE 2. But a voice came forth from the mantling fire, As a trumpet, clear and loud ! " At length the fire was kindled, and, amidst the noise and fury of the flames, he was distinctly heard pronouncing these last words, ' How long, 0 Lord ! shall darkness cover this realm ? How long wilt thou suffer this tyranny of men ? Lord Jesus, receive my spirit ! ' "— MARIE'S Sketches of Church History. THE MEEEIE TKAGEDIE OF THE YONGE SANCT GEIL! mtrt September 1, 1558. "Such ane [sudden fray came never amongis the generation of Anti- christ within this realme befoir."— JOHN KNOX'S Historic. ST GYLES was the patron Saint of Edinburgh ; and his Church (still the High Church of the city) is the earliest parish Church of which record remains within its bounds. How an Athenian noble, migrating at the close of the seventh century to France, to enjoy, amid the wild solitudes of the Rhone, that quiet and retirement of which the fame of his sanctity and learning deprived him at home, became the patron Saint of our far northern metropolis, it is impossible perhaps at this distance of time to tell. The fact is all that has come down to us ; and the Saint, having been held in marvellous estimation, his effigy not only adorned the city arms, but many offerings of price were made at his shrine. Of these a curious inventory exists, they having been ruthlessly exposed to sale by the Magistrates of Edinburgh subsequent to the Reformation. About the year 1454, the greatest treasure of all was presented, being no less a relic than the " armbane" of the Saint, procured we are told by William Pres- 50 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. ton of Gorton, after long entreaty and at considerable expense, through the kindly intervention of the King of France. In token of gratitude for so inestimable a gift, the descendants of that gentleman were entitled to carry the relic (enclosed in a silver case, and wearing a splendid ring on its ghastly finger) in the annual procession in honour of the Saint, which took place on the 1st of September, St Gyles' day in the calendar. But the light for which Patrick Hamilton prayed amid the fires, had arisen upon his country. The cruel death of George Wishart in 1546, and more recently of old Walter Mill, the last direct victim of the Papacy in Scot- land, had stimulated inquiry, and aroused indignation to the highest pitch. And though John Knox had been for a season removed, after the surren- der of St Andrews to the French in 1547, his friend and subsequent coad- jutor, John Willock, was so indefatigable in his evangelical work, that "albeit," we are told, " he contracted a dangerous sickness, yet he ceased not from labours, but taught and exhorted from his bed." Some of the nobility, with many barons and gentlemen, were his auditors, and by him " ware godly instructed, and wondrouslie comforted." Under these cir- cumstances, when St Gyles' day drew near, in the year 1558, the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, and her Popish councillors, were not a little concerned to secure its observance with all due, and even more than cus- tomary, solemnity; hoping perhaps that the show and splendour would be of some avail in winning back, at least the multitude, to the ancient faith. To do the day all possible honour therefore, the Queen herself, with a gorgeous train of nobles and dignified ecclesiastics, came to town, to walk in the procession behind the effigy of the Saint ; but, alas ! the goodly "Sanct Geil" (a wooden image of gigantic proportions, for whose yearly painting and adorning some curious items of city expenditure re- main) had met the fate recorded in the poem, and a lesser image having LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. been borrowed from the Grey Friars for the occasion, the event turned out, not to the honour, but to the dishonour of the Saint ; and, we believe, the procession in question was the last of the kind in Scotland, till in our own day — the enlightened nineteenth century — the Holy Guild, or Brother- hood of St Joseph, began its rambles in and about Edinburgh ! UP ! up ! and featly deck the shrines, And busk the tapestrie ; The Queen with dawning light she comes, A worthy Regent she ! Let heretics both rave and roup,* Let bedfast Willock pray ; A goodlie gathering we'll have, Upon Sanct Greil's — his day ! Here comes Carmichael with his keys : * " My joys ! what cheer, I trow ? Why fled so fast the cowls I met, By the Nor' Loch but now ? " * " Rouping like ravens."— JOHN KNOX. 52 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. " Haste ! haste ! where snores the Sacristan ? Go, clamour here the loun ! The Saint must don his finger ring, Our Ladye her best goun ! " " Make candlestick and chalice bright — (The pix is rusty grown !) — Reach hither the comb of St Peter's cock,2 It lies by Sanct Geiles' armbone ! " " St Ninian's nails — St Andrew's teeth — A joint of St David's toe — What marvels they wrought, when ' Believe or burn/ Was the watchword late ago ! " " Now well-a-day ! the old faith's away, Not a bodle to bless us whiles ! The very auld wives spell the Bible book, But — St Mary ! — whare's Sanct Geiles ? " LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 53 Down dashed the light from his trembling hand — All started to the spot ! Where the moon showed cold and carelessly, The place where the Saint wets not I " Now a malison wither each counterfeit father, I met by the Nor* Loch but now ! When their errand I speired, the false Huguenots jeered, And said they but paid a vow ! " Black gloomed the Bailie, black scowled the Prior, Cried the Sacristan, like to faint, " Disciples of him made our Ladye swim,3 What reck they of drowning a Saint ! " "Ah well-a-day ! the old faith's away ! " Still the Sacristan harped on his string ; Adding in with a sigh, half of grief, half of joy, " They have left us his finger ring ! " 54 LAYS OB THE KIKK AND COVENANT. Now out and spake a wise young Friar, " Good Fathers, what means this rout ? Though the Saint have been sunk in the harbour of Leith, What hinders him to come out ? " If all tales be true, we have heard from you, More wondrous things may chance ! Think of blessed St Denys who carried his head, In the sight of the faithful of France ! " And though our Sanct Greil be of goodlie weight, The angels may hasten him home ; Like the holy houses they carried about,* And the holy stairs, to Rome ! " What heretic hearts might the sight convert, It could never be needed more ! Not to whisper the wavering faith of some, Who might meet him at the door ! " LAYS OF THE KIEK AND COVENANT. 55 The young brother turned on his heel, and laughed ; There were others that laughed as well ; Quoth the Prior, with a grim, blood-hungered look — " He hath drunk of St Leonard's well ! " 5 The night wears late in a hot debate, But, spite of all scheming and wishes, The meikle Sanct Geil must abide for awhile, Like St Anthony, preaching to fishes ? — Carmichael is boune to the Grey Friars' now, Broad pieces to back his petition ; And the little stars twinkle, and wink from the sky, As if with a hint of his mission ! " Gie your Sanct Geil for our Sanct Geil, And tak the gowd in fee ; A large propine for a sma', sma' Sanct, But a Sanct behoves to be ! " 56 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. — Now morning light comes slowly up, An autumn morning clear ; And goodly fair the city shows, In the waning of the year ! There are hangings rich from balconies, Devices quaint and gay ; And many a broidered banner flung, Upon the wind that day. And there are Crosses in the street, New planted every where : And garlands hung from house to house, With streamers flaunting fair. And gallant youths, all gaily dight, Are spurring through the town ; And maidens, fresh as buds in spring, From casements high look down. LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 57 And nobles proud, and shavelings base, In mixed array are seen, All thronging forth in festive guise, To meet the Eegent Queen. In sooth it is a goodly sight, As she comes stately down, With sunshine on the pageant fair ; But her forehead wears a frown ! For one hath met her at the Port, A hasty word to speak ; And the Guisian blood that instant burned, Like a death-fire in her cheek ! But stately onward paced she still, Even to St Geiles his Church ; (There were belted Earls who left her train, As it went through the porch !) 58 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. The bells are rung, the mass is sung, And, pouring from the aisles, Come priest and prior, monk, frere, and choir- They are bringing out St Geiles ! And lo ! the torches in the sun, They darkly smoke and flare ; Some think they show like Papist dreams, In the Gospel sunshine fair ! And white-robed boys fling incense clouds, As they go down the street ; There are that whisper, " Bonnie bairns, Christ's name is far more sweet ! " And silver crosses glancing shine, And trumpet blasts are blown ; And proudly Preston paces on — He bears St Geiles' armbone ! LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. And now — and now — whilst nobles bow, And mitres proud are seen ; The Saint is born in triumph forth, Behind him comes the Queen ! There are who bend them down to pray, (Some weep for shame the while) ; But the gazing crowd, they shout aloud, " They have gotten a young Sanct Greil ! Eyes flashing fire — cheek white with ire, Stern paused that angry Queen ; But she only met a mocking laugh ; And her French guards came between ! So on the long procession passed, Through streets both broad and narrow ; To make the little Saint look big, They raised him on a barrow ! 60 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. And trumpets clanged, and music pealed, And all went bright and gay ; (I marvel, did the auld Sanct hear, In the Nor' Loch where he lay !) And in and out, and west about,8 Still swept the pageant fine, Till up the High Street it returned, And the Queen she passed to dine. Now angry men, with glances stern, Began to gather near ; And words were bandied in the crowd, HI cared the priests to hear ! " And ha ! Sanct Geil ! and ho ! Sanct Geil ! Thou art waxen unco wee ! Was thy father feared to face the sun, That he hath sent us thee ? " LAYS OF THE KIKK AND COVENANT. 61 " And hech ! to see the wee, wee Sanct, In the muckle auld Sanct's shoon ! G-ude sirs ! when idols dwindle sma', They're gaun to vanish soon ! " And auld wives raised their distaffs high, And clamoured in the crowd ; And some banned here, and some blessed there, Till the strife swelled fierce and loud ! " Eyes hast thou gotten, thou young St Geil, But I trow thou canst not see, A wide, wide mouth — but the priests, I wot, Do not leave the meat for thee ! " " If thy ears can hear, thou mayst bend them now, To the doom that speaks thee dead," With that was a sudden rush on the Saint, And the priests that bare him fled ! 62 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. Then out there pealed a stern, clear voice, It seemed from every where ; " Though Jezebel honoured the priests of Baal, Did Elijah's vengeance spare ? " And 0 the clamour ! and 0 the roar ! As the strife of an angry sea ; The Queen from table she started up, 111 cheer that day made she ! Now Dagon lieth without his head, His limbs in pieces small ; Strange panic seized on all his train, When they saw their idol fall ! And down the silver crosses went, In shreds the banners flew, And goodlie garments of Babylon, Were rent and tattered too ! LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 63 St Andrew's teeth they bit the dust, They hae tramped on St David's toe ! And Preston cast frae him St Geiles' armbone, As far as it would go ! Since our gude town was first a town, There never was seen the like ; There were Papist nobles that drew their swords, But they knew not where to strike ! So some fled east, and some fled west, As the day it darkened down ; There was one that borrowed an auld wife's mutch, To cover a shaven crown ! And some fled south, and some fled north, As it were for limb and life ; And some have crossed the Queensferrie, And hidden themselves in Fife ! 64 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. And from that day unto this day, The like hath never come ; The priests grew wary from that hour, And kept their Saints at home ! But the broken Sanct would never mend ; And there chanced a woful thing, For even Carmichael gave his voice, To sell his finger ring ! They tore him from the city arms, They buried his armbone ; His name sounds strangely in the Kirk, That once was all his own ! And there may Gospel preachers stand, Nor Popish taint defile ; And may all Papist idols meet — The fate of the young Sanct Geil ! LAYS OF THE KIEK AND COVENANT. 65 tn tjre Imirt NOTE 1. Here comes Carmichael with his keys. James Carmichael was for many years one of the Magistrates of Edin- burgh. He filled the office of Dean of Guild from October 1552-53. Again from 1555-56 ; and from 1557-59. In his official capacity he had the charge of the "Kirkwerk," that is, of looking after the preservation of St Giles's Church, and taking charge of the jewels, the gold and silver candlesticks, eucharists, chalices, and other precious things, belonging to that Church ; but these were all ruthlessly disposed of, by order of the Council (including the armbane of Sanct Geill, or rather the ring with "ane dyamant stane, quhilk was on the fingar of the forsaid arme of Sanct Geill,") in October 1560.— Vide Note to p. 259, vol. i., Edition of the Works of JOHN KNOX by the Wodrow Society. 66 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. NOTE 2. Reach hither the comb of St Peter's cock, It lies by Sanct Geiles' armbone ! — This is, of course, not presented as an authentic catalogue of the actual relics of which the Reformation deprived the Church of St Gyles, the " armbane " being the only one, as far as we are aware, of which the tra- dition has come down to us ; but we appeal to all who have travelled on the Continent (and few in our day have not), whether the list be even a caricature of those belonging to almost every Popish Church of note. We would especially recall to the recollection of our readers the greater and lesser relics at Aix-la-Chapelle, those at Cologne, Treves with its Holy Coat, Monza, and last not least, those of St John de Lateran at Rome, with the table on which the- Last Supper is said to have been prepared ! Are we to smile or shudder at such things ? NOTE 3. Disciples of him made our Ladye swim, What reck they of drowning a Saint ! John Knox relates in his history a humorous incident " which took place during his confinement on board the French galleys after the capi- tulation of St Andrews in 1547." — " One day a fine painted image of the LAYS OF THE KIKK AND COVENANT. 67 Virgin was brought into one of the galleys, and a Scotch prisoner was de- sired to give it the kiss of adoration. He refused, saying, ' That such idols were accursed, and he would not touch it.' ' But you shall,' replied one of the officers roughly, at the same time forcing it towards his mouth. Upon this the prisoner seized the image, and throwing it into the river said, 'Let our Ladie now save herself; sche is lycht enoughe, lat hir leirne to swyme.' The officers with difficulty saved their goddess from the waves ; and the prisoners were relieved for the future from such troublesome importunities." Dr M'Crie, from whose "Life of Knox ' this quotation is made, observes that though the Reformer has not said so, it is highly probable he himself was the person concerned in the affair. In the poem, this is assumed to have been actually the case. NOTE 4. Like the holy houses they carried about, And the holy stairs to Eome ! The peregrinations of the Santa Casa of Loretto are too well known to require recapitulation here ; and those who have watched the miserable devotees, crawling up the Santa Scala at Rome, for the sake of the indul- gences promised to wasted time and macerated knees, may well be ex- cused for hesitating whether to ascribe its transportation from Pilate's house to the angels of light, or of darkness ! We have heard much of late of the high-toned devotion, the intellectual cultivation of the Romish 68 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. priesthood; and when we venture to refer to instances like these in ques- tion, of the gross superstition and mental prostration of the great mass of the Romish laity, we are met by the fashionable outcry against Protestant illiberality, and charged with unfairness in aspersing a system, with the ignorances and imbecilities of its uneducated votaries. But we answer, Are these errors— these imbecilities— disavowed by the authorized stan- dards, or the authorized teachers of the Church of Rome ? Are they not, on the contrary, very parts and parcels of Romanism itself ; portions so essential to the edifice, that if taken away, the whole fabric must totter to dissolution ? And if so, What resemblance can such a structure bear to the " holy and beautiful house," the "living temple," built with "live- ly stones," having the Son of God alike for its foundation and its chief corner-stone— of which the temple of Jerusalem was but a type— and wherein only the Spirit of God has promised to dwell ? That can be no Church of Christ, which has myths and mysteries for the initiated, and but the grossness of superstition for the mass of the people ; for, " to the poor " especially, the Gospel is preached. Jesus, who came " a light into the world," rejoiced in spirit, that " what was hid from the wise and prudent, was revealed unto babes." And when Scribes and Pharisees took counsel to slay Him, we are told that " the common people heard Him gladly." Where Christ's Church is, there must be light, not dark- ness, for the poor. "The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple." — (Ps. cxix. 130.) "And Thou, 0 God, has prepared of Thy goodness for the poor ! " — (Ps. Ixviii. 10.) LAYS OF THE KIEK AND COVENANT. 69 NOTE 5. He hath drunk of St Leonard's well ! Gavin Logie, Principal of St Leonard's College, St Andrews, was so suc- cessful in instilling the Reformed opinions into the minds of his students, that it became proverbial to say of any one who was suspected of Luther- anism, " He hath drunk of St Leonard's well ! " NOTE 6. And in and out, and west about, Still swept the pageant fine. " West about goes it, and cumis doun the Hie Street, and doun to the Canno Croce. The Quein Regent dyned that day in Sandie Carpetyne's housse, betuix the Bowes, and so when the idole returned back agane, sche left it, and past in to hir dennar."— KNOX'S History. THE CHILD OF JAMES MELVILLE. tf 3nra BORN JULY 9, 1586 — DIED ABOUT JANUARY 1588. " This page, if thou be a pater (parent-father) that reads it, thou wilt apardone me ; if nocht, suspend thy censure till thou be a father, as said the grave Lacedasmonian Agesilaus." — Autobiography of James Melville. ONE time my soul was pierced as with a sword, Contending still with men untaught and wild ; When He who to the prophet lent his gourd, Gave me the solace of a pleasant child ! A summer gift, my precious flower was given, A very summer fragrance was its life; Its clear eyes soothed me as the blue of heaven, When home I turned — a weary man of strife ! LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. With unformed laughter musically sweet, How soon the wakening babe would meet my kiss ; With outstretched arms, its care-wrought father greet, Oh ! in the desert, what a spring was this ! A few short months, it blossomed near my heart, A few short months, else toilsome all, and sad ; But that home solace nerved me for my part, And of the babe I was exceeding glad ! Alas ! my pretty bud, scarce formed, was dying — (The prophet's gourd it withered in a night !) And He who gave me all, my heart's pulse trying, Took gently home the child of my delight ! Not rudely culled, not suddenly it perished — But gradual faded from our love away ; As if, still, secret dews, its life that cherished, Were drop by drop withheld, and day by day ! LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 75 My gracious Master saved me from repining, So tenderly He sued me for His own ; So beautiful He made my babe's declining, Its dying blessed me as its birth had done ! And daily to my board at noon and even, Our fading flower I bade his mother bring, That we might commune of our rest in heaven, Gazing the while on death, without its sting ! And of the ransom for that baby paid, So very sweet at times our converse seemed, That the sure truth of grief a gladness made, Our little lamb by God's own Lamb redeemed ! — There were two milkwhite doves my wife had nourished, And I too loved erewhile, at times to stand, Marking how each the other fondly cherished, And fed them from my baby's dimpled hand ! 76 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. So tame they grew that to his cradle flying, Full oft they cooed him to his noontide rest ; And to the murmurs of his sleep replying, Crept gently in, and nestled in his breast ! 'Twas a fair sight — the snow pale infant sleeping, So fondly guardianed by those creatures mild ; Watch o'er his closed eyes their bright eyes keeping ; Wondrous the love betwixt the birds and child ! Still as he sickened seemed the doves too dwining, Forsook their food, and loathed their pretty play ; And on the day he died, with sad note pining, One gentle bird would not be frayed away ! His mother found it when she rose, sad-hearted, At early dawn, with sense of nearing ill ; And when at last, the little spirit parted, The dove died too — as if of its heart chill ! LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 77 The other flew to meet my sad home-riding, As with a human sorrow in its coo ; To my dead child, and its dead mate then guiding, Most pitifully plained — and parted too ! 'Twas my first " hansel " * and " propine " f to heaven ! And as I laid my darling 'neath the sod, Precious His comforts — once an infant given, And offered with two turtle-doves to God ! * Present. f Earnest, pledge. 78 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. tn tiB Ctjift nf Sura The characters of the two Melvilles are beautifully contrasted in his- tory. Andrew, the fiery uncle, who ventured to tell his King, when usurping authority over the free Church of Christ, that he was but " God's sillie (weak) vassal ; " and James, the gentle nephew, who says of himself on the same occasion, that he was employed to speak for the rest, because " I could propone the mater in a mild and smooth manner, quhilk the king lyked best of." The one was the complement of the other, much as Melancthon was of Luther, and (Ecolampadius of Zuingle ; and it is most interesting to observe, how in times of trial and emergency to His Church, it has been the Lord's usual (though by no means invariable) method, to send forth His servants like the seventy of old, two and two to their work. The tenderest affection united the Melvilles. Their family love and union stands out in affecting contrast to the stormy aspect of the times in which they lived, and the rough work of the sanctuary in which they were necssarily engaged, building the walls of Jerusalem with their weapons ever in their hands. In extracting the preceding beautiful incident from the "Autobiography of James Melville," the aim has been to present in a modern garb, one out of many of the touches of feeling and nature contained in that delightful work, in the hope that it may lead some to search for themselves into its treasures, unscared by the ill repute for controversial bitterness and want of refinement, under which the works of our Scottish Reformers, without even a hearing in their de- fence, have been too generally consigned to the shelf ! THE WITNESS STONES OF EUTHEEFOED. Wilmx Ihrnea nf " Woods, trees, meadows, and hills, are my witnesses, that I drew on a fair match between Christ and Anwoth."— RUTHERFORD'S Letters. SAMUEL RUTHERFORD became minister of Anwoth in Galloway in 1627. It is related that when he first came to the parish, there was a piece of ground on Mossrobin farm where on Sabbath afternoon the people used to play at football. On one occasion he repaired to the spot, and pointed out their sin, calling on the objects round to be witnesses against them if they persevered, especially three large stones (Josh. xxiv. 27), two of which still remain, and are called "Rutherford's Witnesses." — Vide Rev. A. BONAR'S Edition of EutJierford's Letters. IT is a summer Sabbath time — And o'er Cairnharrow's lofty brow, The summer noontide at its prime, Floateth in purple radiance now ; While on Ben Devan's distant crest, One stainless cloud hath come to rest, And o'er fair isle, and gleaming sea, Distils a glad tranquillity ! 82 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. O ! hearts that God hath touched can tell, How o'er this earth in ruin laid, Still breathes at times the Sabbath spell, Mid sin and sorrow undecayed ! What sympathies in earth and air, With man's appointed rest there are, And how a light comes down from heaven, To crown the day that God hath given ! The preacher's voice but now is still ; His hearers take their various way ; Some skirt the shore, some climb the hill, Some turn them to the woods to pray ; For still the greenwood's quivering screen, A very Bethel oft hath been, Where Scotland's peasant saints have found, That all God's earth is holy ground ! LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 83 And many a germ of faith and prayer, And many a truth instinct with power, The contrite heart away may bear, To feed on in its lonely hour ; For he whose tones upon the ear1 Yet vibrate, fraught with love and fear, Is one whose words of living flame, A baptism of fire proclaim ! Oh ! early bathed in light and love, Oh ! early tuned to praise and prayer ! How soared thine ardent soul above, To bask it in the God-light there ! How seemed it that thy spirit pressed At times so near thy Saviour's breast, That mortal speech all powerless fell, Struggling with love unspeakable ! LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. And yet again so simply clear The gospel-message thou couldst speak, That childhood's heart, and childhood's ear, Gave heed in comprehension meek ; And many a soul long dead in sin, Felt stirrings of new life within, And learned to count all gain a loss, That stood between it and the Cross ! But ah ! if even the Master's word So often all unheeded fell, How shall the servant's voice be heard Where still abides the strong man's spell ? Save when the Spirit in His might Moves o'er the soul commanding light, How vain the glorious truth we find, As sunrise bursting o'er the blind ! LAYS OF THE KIEK AND COVENANT. 85 — His lot hath fallen on evil days, For subtle mischiefs are abroad, That Judas-like a thousand ways, First kiss — and then betray their Lord ! Mocking a faith still lip-profest, Sapping the Sabbath's holy rest, That waymark from creation given, To point, and guard, the road to heaven ! 'Tis an old strife, but oft renewed — For Satan knows his vantage well ! Might he but blast that heavenly good, Earth were but one vast porch for hell ! And well he bears with them that pray, So they will but " arise and play ;" He gains the whole, in niching half — God's Israel serves the golden calf ! 86 LAYS OF THE KIEK AND COVENANT. — The preacher's voice but now is still, His flock is scattering far and near ; But oh ! of those who climb the hill, How jars the laughter on his ear ! Young spirits stout in nature's pride, All vain remonstrance scoffed aside, Disciples of that easy time, Trained on, in Folly's school, to crime ! And he is gone apart to pray As often he hath prayed before ; " A king hath warranted their play,* Lord Jesus, art Thou King no more ? Still must I vainly strive to keep, In Thy great name, these few poor sheep, Thy love, Thy grace, all vainly tell, While they sport madly on to hell ! " * Referring to the " Book of Sports." LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 87 " Oh Thou ! oh Thou ! mine Holy One ! Hast Thou not power in earth and heaven ? And wilt Thou not from Thy high throne, Still guard the blessing Thou hast given, Nor let the tempting fiend invade, The Sabbath Thou for man hast made, That one brief day, redeemed and blessed, When fell the curse o'er all the rest ? " — The laugh is loud, the day is bright, The ball is glancing here and there ; Young limbs are fleet, young hearts are light, What reck they of a bigot's prayer ? And yet an awe of shame there fell, Even on the boldest, like a spell, „ When, issuing sudden from the wood, Full in their midst the Pastor stood ! 88 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. " The steed his six days' work hath done, He gambols in his paddock field ; The young lambs sport beneath the sun, Such as they have to God they yield ; The o'erburthened beast lies down to rest, Enjoys his Sabbath, and is blest ; If ye be even such as they, Then find your pleasure while ye may ! " But if that thing ye bear within, For which a Q-od came down to die ; That washed in blood, or foul with sin, Must share His own eternity ! If shrinks in every guilty breast, Even as I speak, that conscious guest, Upon your souls the charge I lay, Ye spurn not at the Sabbath-day ! LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 89 " My Master's grace this day hath given, That even the dead his voice may hear, And now, as sinners unforgiven, I summon you to turn, and fear ! And these grey stones on either hand, God's witnesses between us stand, If this my warning be withstood, That I am pure from your souls"' blood ! " — The wood receives him from their sight, His thrilling tones are heard no more ; Words are but words ! the day is bright, On with the pastime as before ! But those grey watchers standing by, Assume their witness silently, And a strange awe the boldest own, Rebuked in presence of a stone ! 90 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. Oh ! conscience is a wondrous thing, When God awakes it in its might ; The undying worm, whose full grown sting Through lost eternity shall smite ! A bulrush, in the Spirit's hand, Becomes a sceptre of command ; As sands, outstretched by God's decree, Bind the illimitable sea ! — Green Anwoth keeps her Sabbath rest Through many a change of good and ill ; Outwearied, on his Saviour's breast He sleeps, whose name embalms her still ! And martyr graves beneath the sod, Hold some — his first-fruits unto God ; And only greyhaired sires can tell, " In their bairn days they loved him well ! " LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 91 But children's children still they bring, When summer bells are in the grass, And the young woods are showering Sweet fragrance o'er them as they pass, To gaze on those old stones, and hear What silent witness yet they bear, As generations fleet away, How Anwoth keeps her Sabbath-day ! And now a sadder tale they tell, One watcher missing in its place ; 2 And the strange doom that him befell, Who, scoffing, hurled it from its base ! And many a cheek is blanched with fear, And deeper reverence still they bear, For each remaining witness stone, More hallowed for the one that's gone ! 92 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. O Scotland, home of Sabbath rest ! Thy mountains still about thee stand, To witness how thou hast been blest, In keeping Eden's light command ! Woe ! when our eyes despised shall see That sign* between thy God and thee, One Sabbath sanction overthrown, Or scoffers move one Witness Stone ! 1847. * Ezekiel xx. 12 — " Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." — Vide also Exodus xxxi. 13. LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. 93 te tjp Wiiutw Ites nf NOTE 1. For he, whose tones upon the ear Yet vibrate, fraught with love and fear. A London merchant, a native of England, having come down to Scot- land in the course of business, repaired to St Andrews, where he heard Robert Blair preach. He afterwards heard Samuel Rutherford. On the Sabbath following he went to Irvine, where he heard David Dickson. When he returned to London, his friends asked him, What news from Scotland ? to whom he replied, That he had great and good news to tell them. They little suspected what these tidings might be, as hitherto he had been careless about religion. He told them, that at St Andrews he had heard one Mr Blair preach, and after describing his features and stature, he added, " That man showed me the majesty of God. I after- wards heard," continued he, "a little fair man preach (Mr Rutherford), and that man showed me the loveliness of Christ. Then I came and heard at Irvine, a well-favoured proper old man with a long beard, and that man showed me all my heart ! " 94 LAYS OF THE KIRK AND COVENANT. NOTE 2. And now a sadder tale they tell, One watcher missing in its place. It is related — in the local traditions of Anwoth — that some workmen building a new dyke on the farm of Mossrobin, were in want of stones for their work. One of them, who was a profane character, proposed mak- ing use of " Rutherford's Witnesses," as they were called, which stood near at hand. His companions rejected the proposition with horror, when the man, stimulated by the bad ambition of showing himself supe- rior to the fear of God, wished, with dreadful imprecations, that the first morsel he took might choke him, if he did not build one of the stones into the dyke before breakfast. He accordingly broke up the stone, and accomplished his threat; but the story adds, that on sitting down to his meal, and putting the first morsel into his mouth, he suddenly turned black in the face, fell back, and expired. It will easily be guessed, the two other " Witnesses " remain to this day. THE SIGNING OF THE COVENANT IN THE GEEYFEIAES' CHUECHYAED, EDINBUEGH, ligumg uf t JJB €numi in tjtf